Firefly is an album by American flautist Jeremy Steig recorded in 1977 and released on the CTI label. The Allmusic review stated "Jeremy Steig's jazz-funk throwdown, Firefly, is one of the great forgotten masterpieces of the genre… Firefly was designed for the purpose of being a hit in the dance clubs, and it should have been, because it kicks ass on that level as well as on the jazz-funk beam… This is burning".

David Matthews is a keyboardist, pianist, and arranger. Matthews has composed television soundtracks as well as albums with the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. In 1970, he began working as both an arranger and bandleader for James Brown. Matthews has worked with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Rich, Idris Muhammad, and the Starland Vocal Band. He was staff arranger for Creed Taylor's CTI Records label in the mid-1970s, working on albums for artists such as George Benson, Esther Phillips, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, and Idris Muhammad. "Dune" is based on the Hugo award-winning novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert. Matthews has already had plenty of CTI arranging experience by the time of this set – but he really moves into some unusual space with the record – open, evocative tunes that really live up to their inspiration, but also have some of Dave's funky touches too. Matthews gets help from an all-star lineup of CTI players – including Grover Washington on reeds and Eric Gale on guitar.

After an uncharacteristic (for her) four-year hiatus from recording, Nina Simone returned to the fringes of the pop world with "Baltimore", the only album she recorded for the CTI label. While it bears some of the musical stylings of the period - light reggae inflections that hint of Steely Dan's "Haitian Divorce" - the vocals are unmistakably Simone's.

The Manhattan Jazz Quintet are an unusual group in that they very rarely perform as a unit in the United States (much less Manhattan) but have been a major hit in Japan, both for their recordings and occasional tours. The band (which emphasizes straight-ahead hard bop swinging) first came together in 1983 at the suggestion of Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal and the King record label and won the Gold Disk Award of Swing in 1984. Even now MJQ reigns as a top group of jazz circles. In commemoration of the band's 30th anniversary, it was decided to record and release the new work which features MJQ's leader David Matthews' clear arrangements and the exciting NY jazz sound of the current members.